Photo By Karen Abeyasekere | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Timka Peltonen, 488th Intelligence Squadron, takes time out...... read more read more
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Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series highlighting a Team Mildenhall member’s personal journey through alcoholism and out the other side. Check out Part One and Part Two on the RAF Mildenhall website. Looking forward to a positive future In 2021, Peltonen moved from Barksdale AFB to South Carolina to start his job and career in the cyber security realm. “It was after that when something just clicked and life started feeling good again,” he said. “Things were gradually getting better, and I started having a zest for life that I’d never had before. Early on in sobriety I heard stories about people being happy, and when I got sober I realized I had to just trust the process. When I would try and talk myself out of doing something, I then thought, ‘you know what? Shut up and just do it!’ It was very important for me to not listen to that side of myself and just continued to make that voice quiet while I pursued the path I was on. “The feeling of that zest for life is very compounding on itself, because once I saw the results of my long-term actions it inspired me to do more. It’s like if you go to the gym for three months straight and see physical progress, you know it’s working – the same thing happened with my sobriety and life in general.” By 2021, Peltonen had been sober for two years, cross-trained and started another degree. His relationships were better and was feeling happier without the use of alcohol, which he said he didn’t think was possible. “Previously, I couldn’t even imagine a life without drinking. I couldn’t understand how people were happy without alcohol, but I finally saw it for myself around the one-and-a-half to two-year mark of being sober and realized this was what they were talking about. Sobriety equals achieving goals “Now I have goals, I achieve them and I pursue things; it’s that pursuit of life and goals that made me happy. When I achieved a goal, it was great and I just wanted to do another one. It was more taking the leap of faith then pivoting wherever I needed to from that point on – that’s the guiding factor that I’ve had,” he said. In 2019, he hit the books and studied hard. He stopped giving himself excuses such as not being submitted for promotion, because the realization hit that it wasn’t something he couldn’t control. What he could control, however, was his studying, and was finally promoted to technical sergeant. “I’d been a staff sergeant long enough that I sewed on my stripe pretty much immediately, in November that year. It was a wonderful feeling, and the celebrations and affirmation of the effort I put in and the goals that I had, finally paid off. I’m not a victim of external circumstances. I did the same thing in South Carolina at Shaw Air Force Base – I led my team, but I continued to study and pursue the things I wanted to.” In 2022, he received orders to deploy for a year, involuntarily. It was his first deployment in 17 years, and although it felt scary, it also turned out to be another pivotal moment in his life. Leaning into the fear “My senior enlisted leader told me, ‘You can either fight this or accept it – let me know which one you want to do. Tell me by the end of the day.’ I learned to lean into the fear and the unknown, so I knew I was scared of the deployment, but I wanted to find out what this journey had for me. So, I told him I would do the 365-day deployment to Qatar, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience! It’s also when I found out I was selected for promotion to master sergeant,” recalled Peltonen. With that year-long tour came a guaranteed follow-on, so he submitted a list of bases he wanted. Bases at Japan and Greece were at the top of his list; RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath were at the bottom. When he got his orders to RAF Mildenhall, he was initially disappointed but said he now believes everything happens for a reason, in line with his spiritual approach to things. He accepted the assignment, finished out-processing and flew to England with a much more positive attitude. Peltonen was assigned to the 488th Intelligence Squadron and at this point had reached 18 years in the military. “My initial plan was to do the two-year tour at RAF Mildenhall, get my bachelor’s degree – which I now have – and retire from the Air Force as an E-7. In December 2023, I received a notification on a Friday of a meeting with my commander on Monday. Due to an error in scheduling, I’d accidentally been slotted for the meeting with the commander regarding commissioning, that was meant for someone else. We both thought the other had requested the meeting. This happy accident is what spurred me looking into the warrant officer program. “He told me to get back to him after the holidays about it and to let him know what the requirements were, as he was also interested so he could let other people know about it.” WOTS Peltonen looked deeper into the program and the application process. The Warrant Officer Program was stood up in 2024 and was brand new – the first cycle of warrant officers graduated in January 2025. “I went back and briefed my commander on the guidance and requirements, then started thinking about becoming a warrant officer but had that old feeling of fear of the unknown. That’s my litmus test these days – if I’m scared of it, I want to do it, because growth happens on the outside of your comfort zone, so I continuously try to get new goals and challenge myself. The failsafe I gave myself was even if I didn’t get picked up for it, I already had my degree so I could get out and I wasn’t super-scared.” He threw everything into it that he had and in January 2025, Peltonen decided to submit the package. “To make my package stronger, I decided to get my Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification – it’s the highest tier certification you can get for cyber security. The thing about goals is, it’s not necessarily just achieving them, it’s the things you do in pursuit of that goal and that helped who I was as a person,” he explained. “Without the warrant officer goal, I never would have gotten my CISSP. I got a glowing letter of recommendation from Senior Master Sgt. Archimedes, who I was deployed with in Qatar, and my commander routed another LOR which was signed by the group and wing commander, all supporting my package.” From rock bottom to top of the world During the commander’s interview, one of the questions was “Air Force officers are required to live a life of integrity – What have you done to live a life of integrity, and can you give an example?” “As my answer, I shared my recovery story, to show it’s not easy to raise your hand and ask for help. It was very scary and took me three times to do it. It wasn’t until I felt like I had nothing left to lose that I finally decided to take that leap of faith and trust my commander and my senior enlisted leadership in helping me. They’ve been completely supportive throughout.” Peltonen submitted his warrant officer package, then worried about when the selection would be announced and if he would even succeed. In the event he didn’t make the cut, his back-up plan was to get his master’s degree so he could get out. However, his fears were unfounded because in late August, he was notified he had been selected for WOTS. “My commander announced it to the squadron, and it was a wonderful feeling,” he said happily. “It’s a very exciting venture – I go there next year, then will be stationed in Hawaii. Those are all the things I would have loved back in the day, but it just wasn’t my time then – I got selected to warrant officer school because of my experiences, because of the leadership I met on my deployment, because I came to Mildenhall, and my interaction with my commander here,” he said. “Things happened for a reason; it’s the continuous support from all the people I met in my life that helped me get to where I am now. I know I wouldn’t be here today without all the support and help from the people in my past.” The master sergeant explained how his life finally changed for the better once he got sober. “It’s not just the ‘not drinking’ part; getting sober forced me to pursue things in life that I never would have done, because I had to pursue physical, spiritual, mental and emotional wellness. Those pillars of wellness were crucial for me to get to where I am today. It’s always a feeling of gratitude and looking for that next step that’s exciting for me. I’ve had a lot of bad things happen in my life and my Air Force career, but that’s also insignificant compared to where I am today. The only way is up – so keep on going “I now have hope for the future, and it really is because of the commanders and leadership I had, and the ADAPT program being there for me. As many times as I asked for help, because I was open and honest about what I needed, they were more than willing to help. I know what it’s like to fear losing your job; I know what it’s like to fear losing your security clearance, and fear being judged by the people around you – but I also know what’s on the other side of that coin,” remarked Peltonen. “Taking that leap of faith to ask for help is what got me here today, and once I got that feeling of gratitude that everything worked out, it pushed me to keep carrying on. While I still have bad days with ups and downs, my life is now the best it’s ever been. I just hope other people can find that too, because I was given mentorship that taught me there is a light at the end of the tunnel – you just have to ask for help.” Editor’s note: The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment program promotes readiness, health and wellness through the prevention and treatment of substance misuse by providing comprehensive education and treatment to active-duty service members. When engaged in preventative services such as education and outreach, members receive knowledge, skills and action plans to prevent the negative consequences of alcohol and drug misuse. Education involves knowledge of blood-alcohol content in males and females; knowledge of standard drink sizes, and what responsible drinking is. Information on the effects of alcohol on the brain, mood, behaviors and relationships are provided. The importance of abiding by both local and international laws in regard to drinking and driving – including the difference between driving under the influence and driving while intoxicated – are also discussed. For more information on the ADAPT program, call DSN 314-226-8602/8603, or commercial, 01638 548602/548603, or walk in to the ADAPT clinic at RAF Lakenheath, building 922.
| Date Taken: | 11.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2025 09:22 |
| Story ID: | 554924 |
| Location: | RAF MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK, GB |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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